Refugees

It is hard to find a newspaper that doesn’t mention the refugee crisis, whether it is in the headlines or the world news. The problem all started about half a year ago when a three-year-old refugee Alan Kurdi was found dead in Turkey. The rapidly increasing refugees topped 66m this year which rings a bell of the worst refugee crisis after the WWII; several countries are denying the demands of the EU to accept more refugees.

However, the new arrival of refugees can be a blessing in disguise. The general stance in the status quo regards that the refugees would ‘dent public finances’. Unlike the popular assumption, the World Street Journal (WSJ) recently reported that “a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Refugees has proven that the acceptance of refugees can, in fact, benefit financially.” The Bank of Korea also conducted a research and concluded that the arrival of refugees might help revive the stagnated economy of Germany which is mainly due to the low fertility and population aging. The reason is the following: the arrival would, in the long run, solve the employment problem.

The Dark Side

The primary assumption on the refugees is justifiable. Germany now faces an enormous amount of refugee applicants, and it takes about 4 to 5 months to be officially approved as ‘refugees.’The Dutch Government follows the German Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, which enforces refugees to live in a designated asylum for at least six weeks with financial support from the government. The refugee policy demanded 2.4 billion euros in 2014 and estimated to increase up to 55billion euros in 2015 according to the Kiel economics institute. The act, furthermore, supports 1180 euros every month per a family of 4 after they are accepted, while more of the budget should be put for social integration.

The Bright Side

Germany is one of the EU countries which suffer extreme job vacancy due to the lack of economically active population. Among 10million job vacancies, 19% of them are simple labor jobs, 62% requires professionals, and 19% needs college graduations. Refugee applicants now have a high percentage of college graduates and professionals; the government would be able to hire them right after a vocational training. Under these policies, Germany is expected to maintain the economic growth rate of 1% even after 15 years. Furthermore, the ‘wage-dampening’ would let refugees get quickly hired without a vocational training leading to a significant boom in employment.

We always have or in a majority of times focused on the humanitarian perspective of refugee acceptance. The economy now further proves that the arrival would not only be a nation’s pride but also would benefit in financial matters. The ball is now in the Angela Merkel’s court.